It's hard to believe that a full decade has passed since the release of Van Halen's "Balance," one of the more underrated albums' in VH's catalogue. Although there were a lot of great bands popular in 1995--Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine--it was still refreshing to have a kick-ass new Van Halen album out. Although "Balance" was released in the days of grunge and alternative rock, it still managed to sell over two million copies.

"Balance" takes up where "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" left off, but the music is overall heavier, and has more of an edge. Gone were the synthesizers and more pop oriented songs that that were prevalent in the first two Van Hagar albums. "Balance" rocks hard like its predecessor, but it is also somewhat darker. I take the general theme of the album to be the loss of a relationship, or going through a major life-change, and then getting back in "Balance."

The band sounds very focused and tight. Bruce Fairbain did a great job of getting the best out of the band and gave the CD a tight, crisp production. It goes without saying that Eddie's playing is terrific and each song has one or two killer solos. Mike and Al provide a killer rhythm section as usual.

The album begins with the hard hitting "The Seventh Seal." It starts with an atmospheric Buddhist chant leading into the song. This is a really cool, heavy dark song with an almost hypnotic riff. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" is a balled in the vein of "Why Can't this be Love," but doesn't have the dated, cheesy keyboards. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" is about the breakup of a relationship, not the hope of one as it is in "Why Can't this be Love." I take the mid-tempo "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" to basically mean that love is not enough to stop a suicide. The album lightens up a bit with the fast-paced "Amsterdam" and "Big Fat Money," two good, hard rockers. "Strung Out" is a sound-byte of Ed apparently ripping a piano apart, which leads into the majestic balled "Not Enough." "Aftershock" is an excellent rocker and has one of EVH's best solos on the disc. "Doin' Time" is a very cool drum solo that leads into the instrumental "Baluchitherium." It's catchy, infectious groove and killer solos make it a favorite of mine. "Take Me Back (Déjà vu)" remains my personal all-time favorite Van Halen song from the Sammy Hagar era. It's a beautiful, bittersweet, semi-acoustic song with the theme of wanting to return back to an earlier time in your life. The album ends with the depressing "Feelin'" a song that deals with getting though life alive, without getting burned. It's by far the most morose song VH ever wrote.

"Balance" was Van Hagar at it's best. It was also their last album. About a year and a half after it's release, Sammy Hagar and Van Halen parted ways. In hindsight, by listening to this dark CD, you can almost get the sense that although the band still sounds cohesive, this was destined to be the last Van Hagar CD.

I just recently bought Balance after being a life-long Van Halen fan but giving up on them during my college/Grunge days in the early 90's. Fortunately, I got a little reminiscent (had to use MS spell check for that one) for my favorite band from the 70's and 80's and decided to buy balance. I have always been both a Roth and Hagar fan but have alway considered 5150 one of my favorite albums of all time. This is easily the 2nd best Van Hagar album and one of their top 5 albums. Like many reviewers have said, this album got lost in the Pearl Jam / Nirvana days of the mid-nineties but still holds well 15 yrs later. The production is better than any other VH album and it makes me long for the Sammy days again.

Buy and enjoy!

This CD is good, but not one of their best. Has an extra track not on the U.S. version called "Crossing Over." This song is really good and I am surprised it was not on the U.S. version.

I think that this is a pretty good album. Yes it is a little spotty but still came together nicely. Coming out in 1995, this album seemed somewhat influenced by grunge. The guitars were toned down and the sound was very thick on a lot of the heavier songs. One thing that I need to give VH credit for on this is thinking outside the box on a lot of tracks. Having lyrically taken on some of the issues that grunge bands were talking about. Dysfunctionalism, and drugs, and the ills of the world. This was the only album where VH got serious and still sounded good. VH was serious on VHIII, but that album sucked. There were a few tracks I can relate to. I have been through a painful point in my life in the last year or so so songs like "Feelin'" and "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" sound particularly relatable now. Not to mention that they are great songs. "Not Enough" was a nice ballad that sounded more from the heart than many love songs do. "The Seventh Seal" was an awesome starter to the album. "Can't Stop Lovin You" was pop, but a decent song nonetheless. "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)" was an interesting Zeppelinesque song that seemed to be built on layers of Acoustic and Electric guitars. "Aftershock" was a great rocker about being irritated with love. "Amsterdam" was a great fun track and "Balunchitherium" was a very nicely done instrumental. My only real issues were "Big Fat Money" Sucked and "Strung out" and "Doin' Time" were both filler material. Other than that, it was great. If you want a good set of rockin' tunes with some more serious relatable songs, as well as songs that are a little of both, then this is the Balance (No Pun intended) between the two.

On another note, I am glad to hear that VH is back together with Sammy. I would have been really happy if it were Dave too. But after 8 years since Sammy's departure and the botched Diamond Dave Reunion, and the terrible Van Halen III album that followed, and the subsequent departure of Gary Cherone and the long silence that followed, I think that all VH fans are hungry to hear from their heroes again. I hope I can afford to see them when they come through Denver.

Well, I don't know. It's a tough call. But since I'm listening to this CD right now (and loving it!), I'll be generous and give a 5. Every song on here is strong, even the supposed "filler" instrumentals like "Doin' Time" and "Baluchitherium", which REALLY rocks with Eddie's smooth-as-silk guitar gliding over the crunchy riffs in the background. There are the typical great VH singalong tunes like "Can't Stop loving You" and "Amsterdam", a cheesy (but still good) ballad in "Not Enough", but also some real thoughful, darker songs like "Don't Tell Me" and "Feelin'". And the 'epic' song "The Seventh Seal" recalls the "Poundcake" riff, but by no means rips it off in any way. It's an original, and great, tune! If Van Halen 3 is really THAT bad (I haven't heard it yet), I don't see why they slipped so much. After all, Sammy sucks (according to the DLR fans), so him leaving wouldn't have made a difference. ;) (yeah, RIGHT.)